Project Tugon: On the Communication Responsiveness of National Government Agencies, Offices and Departments

Project Tugon: On the Communication Responsiveness of National Government Agencies, Offices and Departments

With the use of various communication channels, how responsive are Philippine national government offices towards citizens?

To answer this, the researchers measured the communication responsiveness of selected National Government Departments, Agencies and Offices in the Philippines (n=169) from the period of November 2014 to March 2015. Using the list of National Departments, Agencies and Offices included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) from the Department of Budget and Management, the researchers collected the current communication channels of each of the sample National Government Departments, Agencies and Offices. Afterwards, the researchers examined and assessed the responsiveness of these offices and agencies through measured phone call and private message responses, as well as through their social media accounts like Twitter and Facebook. Based on the data gathered, the study reveals that, despite advances in communication technology and a variety of communication channels, communication responsiveness remains to be a challenge for government institutions in the Philippines.

Based on the gathered information, out of the 169 National Departments, Offices and Agencies included in the sample, 99% (168) have their official websites and 26% (44) have webmail accounts. In Social Media, 39% (65) have Facebook pages, 27% (46) have Twitter accounts and only 8% (13) have their Youtube channels. Lastly, 98% (166) have phone numbers, 7% (11) have SMS numbers and 44% (75) have fax numbers

Communication Channels

%

Count

Website

99

168

Webmail

26

44

Facebook

39

65

Twitter

27

46

Youtube Channel

8

13

Phone numbers

98

166

SMS

7

11

Fax numbers

44

75

Out of the 166 agencies, departments and offices contacted, only half or 50% (82) of the sample national agencies, offices and departments responded to our call, 24% (39) are busy, 25% (15) ringing only, 4% (5) have contact person that is not accessible, 2% (3) have numbers that are not accessible and the remaining 5% (9) don’t have their own landline numbers or their main office is located outside NCR

Credits for banner photos, from left: “Farmer Mt. Province” courtesy of Rosemarie Razon/SEARCA, 2008; “Give us water” courtesy of Ashoke Ghosh/SEARCA, 2008; “Keep the ecosystem healthy” and “Finding solutions” courtesy of Gina Meneses/SEARCA, 2008. All photos used by permission of the photographers and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)